To educate and engage young people in the issues that impact their lives and their future. We spotlight information, educate people about the political process, teach the importance of civic engagement in their communities, and show people how to think beyond partisan politics.

Our policy agenda includes higher education, economic development and good government.

To educate and engage young people in the issues that impact their lives and their future. We spotlight information, educate people about the political process, teach the importance of civic engagement in their communities, and show people how to think beyond partisan politics.

Our policy agenda includes higher education, economic development and good government.

Impact

Young people face two main challenges as they prepare for the future: paying for a high quality education and finding a good job. Virginia21 shows young people how to have a positive impact on higher education and economic development policies across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Our members have helped secure record investments in higher education, pass a first in the country community college transfer grant program, pass textbook market reforms, register thousands of students to vote, and many more.

We have chapters at all of the four year and many of the two year public colleges around Virginia, and we have involved over 50,000 students in the political process.

Needs

1. Scholarship Support for our Student Leadership Institute -- We do not charge students to attend SLI during the Summer or charge them to participate in the year long program that educates them about community involvement. $2,500 / person

2. Fundraising Support - As a new 501(c)3 focused on civic engagement, leadership education, higher education, and helping young people take advantage of opportunities to get involved, we believe our potential to begin a foundation/grants program is enormous. We need help funding a development position OR someone that can write a few grants for us to get started.

We stand up for Virginia’s 18–26 year-olds. We provide information, direct advocacy and coordinate political action on a non-partisan agenda focused on making college affordable, ensuring that young people have jobs, and building a government that works.

We want to turn good ideas into good policy – to build a Virginia that we will be proud to call our home. Virginia21 is different because we know the issues matter. We aren’t particularly interested in ‘rocking the vote’ or ‘declaring ourselves,’ and we don’t know many young voters who are. We care about issues like education, economic development and good government – issues that affect our lives every day. So we tell Virginia’s next generation of leaders about these issues and why they matter. We give them the facts, show them how to impact the process, and point them in the right direction. A voter that’s informed about the issues and voting because they have a stake in those issues has become more than just a voter – they’re an active citizen.

We don’t really care if you’re Republican, Democrat, or neither. Young voters may not like partisanship, but we know that politics is not a dirty word; politics is how you change things in this country. We want to build a Virginia that we will be proud to call our home. Virginia21 is here to make sure that the young voter is heard above all the name-calling and bickering that goes on in our state capitol. We’re here to represent our generation because decisions are made by the people who show up.

We were started in 2002 to give young people a voice in the decisions that impact their future. In that time we have taught over 70,000 members to organize, to educate, and to engage themselves and their peers around the issues that impact their generation: paying for college and finding a good job.

Areas of Service

Areas Served

Area

Statewide

Board Chair

Board Chair Anne Schlussler

Company AffiliationClarity Staffing

TermJuly 2014 to July 2017

Emailanne@claritystaffing.com

Board of Directors

Board Members

Name

Affiliation

James Beazley

Dominion

Demas Boudreaux

Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

S. Douglas Bunch

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC

Brian R. Cannon

Community Volunteer

Hon. Donald J. Finley

Virginia Business Higher Education Council

Michael Forehand

Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce

Hon. Laura Fornash

University of Virginia

Hon. John H. Hager

Community Volunteer

Allison Jones

McGuireWoods

Andrew Marrs

Norfolk Southern

Richard McDonnell

General Motors

Thomas W. Minnick

National Counseling Group

Eddie O'Leary

CO+Lab Multimedia

Will Payne

Bull Moose Strategies

Jay S. Poole

Common Sense Strategies

Hon. Anne G. Rhodes

Community Volunteer

Anne Schlussler

Clarity Technology Partners

David Solimini

The Truman National Security Project

James E. Ukrop

Community Volunteer

Marilyn H. West

M.H. West & Co., Inc.

Board Demographics - Ethnicity

African American/Black2

Asian American/Pacific Islander0

Caucasian18

Hispanic/Latino0

Native American/American Indian0

Board Demographics - Gender

Male15

Female5

Governance

Board Term Lengths3

Board Term Limits3

Board Meeting Attendance %75

Written Board Selection Criteria?Yes

Written Conflict of Interest Policy?Yes

Percentage Making Monetary Contributions100

Number of Full Board Meetings Annually4

Other Boards

The tables below contain information about other groups that advise this nonprofit on operations and projects.

DescriptionThe Summer Leadership Institute is a collaboration between VA21 and the CNU Wason Center for Public Policy to provide young people with the leadership skills necessary to impact their communities now and into the future.